Russian oil production fell close to a three-year low in early July, to 10.79 million barrels per day, dragged down by declining output at Rosneft, the country’s largest oil producer, industry sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
This is the lowest level of extraction since August 2016, when it stood at 10.71 million bpd, down from 11.15 million bpd reached last June on average.
Russia’s oil production may still recover during the course of the month, as was the case in June, when it fell to as low as 10.87 million bpd at the beginning of the month.
One industry source also said output at Rosneft, the world’s largest listed oil producer, fell by 11% on July 1-8 from June’s average.
Reuters uses a ton/barrel ratio of 7.33. Both Rosneft and energy ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The decline follows the discovery in mid-April of contaminated Urals crude that affected the Druzhba pipeline to Europe, which led to the suspension of exports via the route. Since then, flows via the pipeline have partially resumed.
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